In Its War on Raw Milk Cheese, FDA Finally Beats a Retreat

For more than a decade, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has had an undeclared war on raw milk cheese, until this week, when the FDA finally beat a retreat.

At the conclusion of its latest assault against raw milk cheese–a research study of more than 1,600 cheese samples to test for pathogens–the FDA made this remarkable admission: “The data collected by the FDA indicate that the prevalences of Salmonella and pathogenic Shiga toxin- producing E. coli are relatively low and similar to the contamination rates in many other foods.” I added the emphasis, just to highlight the significance of that statement. The FDA has never before gone so far as to suggest that a raw-milk product is as safe as “many other foods.” Instead, the FDA and its buddies at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have gone out of their way to foment fear about raw milk products of any kind, warning people not to consume them under any circumstances.

The FDA’s only concern about raw milk cheese, and this is a small concern in the context of FDA reactions, involves listeria monocytogenes. Because it found the pathogen in more raw milk cheese samples than the E.coli O157:H7 and salmonella (but still less than one per cent of the total sample), it stated that “Listeria monocytogenes prevalence, especially in semi-soft cheese, remains a concern and the agency will be actively working with industry to address strategies to significantly minimize or prevent contamination.”

The listeria situation was minor enough for the agency to declare: “In light of the findings, the FDA does not anticipate additional large- scale sampling of raw milk cheese…” This is the FDA’s way of saying that, as hard as it searched for pathogens in raw milk cheese, it essentially came up empty, and it is throwing in the towel on taking down raw milk cheese, at least for the time being.

Raw milk cheese has been sanctioned by the FDA since the late 1940s, so long as it is aged at least 60 days. The raw milk cheese assault began back in 2005, when FDA dairy chief John Sheehan declared that the agency was concerned about contamination from cheese made from unpasteurized milk and suggesting that the 60-day aging rule wasn’t sufficient to reduce risks from pathogens. He then directed several efforts over the course of the next ten-plus years to make his case, including widespread inspections of American Cheese Society members in 2010 and a highly theoretical, and flawed, study concluding raw milk cheese was 50 to 160 times more risky for listeriosis than pasteurized milk cheese. All have failed to make the case Sheehan and his cronies at the FDA so badly wanted—that raw milk cheese is a high-risk food, requiring serious restrictions on production and distribution, including abandoning the simple 60-day aging rule.

This latest effort to discredit raw milk cheese commenced in 2014, when the FDA told the American Cheese Society that it would test at least 1,700 samples of raw milk cheese from organization members and foreign producers. As it turned out, over the next two years, the FDA tested a little more than 1,600 samples.

According to the FDA’s summary about the study, “As planned, the FDA collected 1,606 raw milk cheese samples (exceeding its target by 6 samples). The FDA designed its sampling plan such that if contamination of one percent or greater was present in the commodity, the agency would detect it. The agency closely monitored the assignment to gather lessons learned and make changes to the sampling if needed to address trends or food safety issues.

“Of the 1,606 raw milk cheese samples collected and tested, 473 samples (29 percent) were domestic samples, and 1,133 samples (71 percent) were of international origin. The FDA sought to design its sampling plan to approximate the ratio of domestically made versus imported product on the U.S. market but was unable to do so in this case because the federal government does not track production volume of raw milk cheese. Details on the assignment design are provided in the Sample Collection section of this report.

“The FDA tested samples for the presence of the pathogens Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, as well as for generic E. coli. The overall contamination rate for each of the pathogens was less than one percent, and the overall contamination rate for generic E. coli was 5.4 percent. While the prevalence for generic E. coli was comparatively high, it bears mention that it rarely causes illness even as it may signal insanitary processing conditions.

“Because the contamination frequencies among the pathogens were below one percent, the FDA was limited in its ability to detect differences in contamination rates based on the type of cheese or its origins (i.e., domestic vs. import), even with the large number of samples.”

To those food safety types who might object to the FDA conclusions based on discovering even a single example of the presence of pathogens, the agency noted that it couldn’t find even one illness from the handful of cheese samples with pathogens.

This latest report should put the kibosh on the FDA’s efforts to tighten rules on raw milk cheese, which prompted opposition late last year from a number of prominent politicians. But as we’ve learned over a number of years, you can never count the FDA out in its desire to rid the country of raw milk products.

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15 Comments on "In Its War on Raw Milk Cheese, FDA Finally Beats a Retreat"

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Mark Mcafee

July 23, 2016 1:31 am

I wish the FDA had identified which of these cheese samples were truly raw. In other words, many so called raw cheeses are actually thermalized at just under pasteurization temps and may have lost some of their innate pathogen inhibition properties. The fda makes no distinction between truly raw and fake raw and combines different classes of raw Milk and cheeses all of the time. Remember,,,,the higher the heating of milk….the higher the risk of Listeria Monocytogenes ( Cornel study ). Getting the fda to admit to the science about heat having anything to do with increase of risk of LM would be tantamount to a miracle. This is all great news. I found it quite interesting that many of the pathogens were found in French imported cheeses. I wonder if Sheehan is a little embarrassed by the total vindication of American raw cheeses?? Something we all knew for years. Probably not. The FDA does not get embarrassed about misleading people about the truth …they just get a bigger paycheck or a golden parachute. I have on very good account, that all conventionally produced milk coming from the big coops that make claims that there milk is BST free….Are actually… Read more »

If I had to guess, I’d say that the man who lead the long campaign against raw milk cheese, John Sheehan, had little to do with this report. I don’t think it is in his constitution to write the words about raw milk cheese that I quoted in my post. No, there have to be new hands helping direct the FDA’s dairy division.

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Lincoln Broadbooks

July 23, 2016 12:38 pm

I know for a fact that some of the cheeses they tested were thermalized. They came and got some Cheddar from the shop I run and I told them it was thermalized and not truly raw and they said it did not mater. I am pretty sure they had no clue what thermalized meant.

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Ken Conrad

July 23, 2016 3:38 pm

Mark,
If they have indeed lost their moral compass how can we trust them in anything that they do or recommend when it comes to safe food, drugs and vaccines? Their moral compass appears to be relative and wayward in nature in that it points in whatever direction best suit their self-serving political/corporate interests. There are such things as lying that are just plain wrong, regardless of the context of the act. “A lie is a lie is a lie” as the saying goes.

The FDA has also put pressure on and/or emboldened state agencies which have put tons of pressure on local producers. I know of at least one significant operation put out of business in TN because they were done fighting the state over this raw cheese and milk, and plenty of other smaller operations that either have stopped or never started due to the state’s attitude and actions.

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Mark Mcafee

July 23, 2016 12:05 pm

I do not know what it is about the big pond… But when humans cross the pond, so many things change. Here in the USA we embrace, sterile foods, bacteria paranoia and liability lawyers. In the EU there is a residual post WW2 culture of thank god we have any food at all. In the EU there are few active food liability lawyers.

The entire food culture in America is very strange. In a way….we are anti food.

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Shana Milkie

July 24, 2016 9:51 am

This is certainly welcome news, but it’s hard to feel joyful after all the wasteful efforts of the FDA. Thanks for the update, David!

people who pay attention to a political issue are at all stages of understanding. Some on this forum are appalled by my harsh approach to the opposition. That’s because you-all haven’t been through the meat-grinder and been brutalized, as I have in these political tussles. Beginners still have confidence that The Establishment operates as it’s supposed to, so that “extremists” like moi, just don’t get it, so are to be ignored. After a few lessons in the school of hard knocks, one comes to realize what my friend Douglas Christie said : “Freedom of Speech IS the issue”

today, Mike Adams the Health Ranger has a very important item demonstrating how thought-control, is the crux of politics; apparently Google refuses to publish ads for health remedies. That ought to convince skeptics as to what the Campaign for REAL MILK is really about

My wife and I run a supplement and herb company and we run into this all of the time. Our google ads have to be sterile. The FDAs prohibitions are restrictive and stupid saying that only a drug can diagnose, prevent, treat or cure a disease. That in itself is ridiculous. According to the FDA, if I say that Vitamins A, D and K can prevent and/or treat/cure tooth decay, I’m in violation of the law and if they catch me saying it, there are severe penalties coming my way including fines, censure, closing business for 6 months for “review”, confiscation of all product “for testing”, or possible jail time if they stretch my statement to be giving health advice which is “practicing medicine without a license”. But even more ridiculous is their definition of disease. Their definition is “…damage to an organ, part, structure, or system of the body such that it does not function properly (e.g., cardiovascular disease), or a state of health leading to such dysfunctioning (e.g., hypertension); except that diseases resulting from essential nutrient deficiencies (e.g., scurvy, pellagra) are not included in this definition.” So, from that, they can make just about anything a disease. For… Read more »

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D. Smith

July 25, 2016 3:43 pm

Sounds like some excellent reasons to stay away from google and facebook if you ask me. I would also avoid wikipedia like the plague. Sounds to me like these corporate creeps I just mentioned are nothing more than shills for the PHRMA companies. That’s why all the gubmint agencies are fighting tooth and nail to keep marijuana out of use. But they condone the use of chemical drugs known to kill. They will support false science to “prove” those drugs are useful. Imagine it. America is on her belly.

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Mark Mcafee

July 29, 2016 1:38 am

Today Shawna and I spent time at two Oregon based Cow Shares as part of our ongoing RAWMI outreach program. This RAWMI mentoring program audits, assists, and mentors raw milk farmers as they write RAMP plans and prepare to become LISTED. What a fantastic group of real people.

Congrats to Dr. Cat Berge, Edwin Shank, Shawna Barr and Charlotte Smith for their mentoring rolls in preparing these farmers for Listing. It takes a village to grow a safe raw milk market….so proud of all that has been done, the example being set, and the track record being created.

At the end of the day it will now come down to practices and operator ethics. Healthy animals, sanitary practices which will come of training and common sense. As a raw milk drinker there is raw milk I walk away from. Gaining the knowledge to walk away is complicated, a quality milk program will go a long way to making fluid raw milk a viable product. I read the comments about thermized milk products being part of FDA’s screening, we should all note if they were removed from the total number of samples taken the data may look worse not better.

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D. Smith

August 18, 2016 6:56 pm

Didn’t know exactly where to put this so hope this spot works out. 😉 I don’t sign online petitions for anything, but for those who do, you might be interested in this one. I also don’t buy “organic” milk or yogurt at a grocery store, so it doesn’t really apply to me.